Talk:World Archives Project: Alabama Convict Records, 1889-1954

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Feel free to add to or edit information in this discussion tab as necessary. Please take time to become familiar with the General Keying Standards and be sure to read all instructions on the main project page. (Please note that in case of a discrepancy, project level instructions always trump general keying standards.)

Contents

Extra Keying Helps

Common Keying Errors Found by Reviewers

1. Names typed incorrectly - please enlarge the image so that you can easily see the letters. Use common sense to look at a name after you type the letters and see if it makes sense, usually these names are pretty straight-forward and are not exotic foreign names.

2. Alias names not being input - usually there is an alias field in the upper left-hand corner

3. Age, race, and gender not being input

On the whole, keyers are doing an excellent job, much better than other projects I have arbitrated. Keep up the good work, this project is rapidly moving ahead

Questions and Answers

If you have a keying question that is not answered on the project page or in any of the information above, click “EDIT” and ask it here. (If you click on Rich Editor you won't have to worry about formatting your entry.) Then click “WATCH” at the top right on this page and you will be notified via email when an update has been made.

Conviction Date

Question: If there is no date by the Sentence Began. Do we pick up the date written by Received?

Answer: Here is the reply I received from WAP when I asked about the conviction date. We are to only use the date written by "Sentence Began". If there is no date mark it as "BLANK". DO NOT USE DATE RECEIVED.

WAP Answer: The date that we are looking for is the "Sentence Began" date. If that date is not available, then you would mark it as blank. Angelina, World Archives Project Support Team

2 aliases

Question: I am keying a record and it has 2 aliases listed for the same person. How would I enter this?

Answer: Key the first alias, unless it is very similar to the name. If the name is James S Smith, don't key J S Smith as an alias. If the alias is John Jones, then key John Jones as alias. Female question - can't find an authority for that, my arbitrator gut feeling says use "Female", since that is what they want. pwrand, 11/23/10

Keying Gender

Question: On one record, for gender it reads Woman. According to the help article, it says key Male or Female and if it is neither, then key as seen. But, obviously, a woman is female. So, do I key it as Female or Woman?
Answer: When the Field Help states to key only Male or Female and you can comfortably make the determination, such as a woman being a female, make the determination. DO NOT make a determination based on Given Names.